Husband and Wife Owners of a Tarrant County Tax Preparation Business are Each Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for Defrauding the U.S.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 9, 2012

FORT WORTH, Texas — Sanford Taylor Hobbs, III, and his wife, Crystal La Von Mason-Hobbs, who each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by impeding, impairing and obstructing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in determining, computing, assessing and collecting clients’ income taxes, have each been sentenced to five years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. In addition, U.S. District Judge John McBryde ordered that they pay more than $4 million in restitution, jointly and severally.

According to the indictment filed in the case, the defendants owned and operated CMH Enterprise, also known as CMH Tax and Notary Service, located in Everman, Texas. Judge McBryde sentenced Sanford Hobbs on Friday, April 6, 2012; Crystal Mason-Hobbs was sentenced last month.

According to the factual resume filed in the case for Mason-Hobbs, she and Sanford Hobbs prepared and filed income tax returns, for tax years 2005-2008, with Schedule C business income and expenses for businesses that did not exist, exemptions and credits for fictitious dependents, falsely claimed earned -income and education credits and various other false statements — all with the intent of fraudulently inflating the tax refunds claimed on behalf of clients taxpayers. According to Sanford Hobbs’ factual resume, he agreed to assist her in the scheme.

IRS-Criminal Investigation was in charge of the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Gulde was in charge of the prosecution.